UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS BULGARIA Third Review Synopsis UNITED NATIONS 2017 CONTENTS Preface .................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Conclusions and recommendations .................................................................................................................... 13 3 Preface This third Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of Bulgaria takes stock of progress made by Bulgaria in the management of its environment since it was peer reviewed for the second time in 2000. It covers issues of specific importance to the country related to legal and policymaking frameworks, the financing of environmental expenditures, greening the economy, air protection, water and waste management and biodiversity conservation. The review further provides a substantive and policy analysis of the country’s climate change adaptation and mitigation measures and its participation in international mechanisms. It also examines the efforts of Bulgaria to integrate environmental considerations in its policies in the energy sector. The successes of Bulgaria in the achievement of most of the Millennium Development Goals are highlighted, as well as some remaining challenges. The third EPR of Bulgaria began in February 2016 with a preparatory mission to agree on the structure of the report and the schedule for its completion. A team of international experts took part in the review mission from 12 to 20 April 2015. The draft report was submitted to Bulgaria for comment and to the ECE Expert Group on Environmental Performance Reviews for consideration in November 2015. During its meeting on 6 December 2016, the Expert Group discussed the draft report with expert representatives of the Government of Bulgaria, focusing on the conclusions and recommendations made by the international experts. The recommendations, with suggested amendments from the Expert Group, were then submitted for peer review to the Committee on Environmental Policy at its twenty-second session on 26 January 2017. A high-level delegation from Bulgaria participated in the peer review and the Committee adopted the recommendations in this report. The Committee and the ECE secretariat are grateful to the Government of Bulgaria and its experts who worked with the international experts and contributed their knowledge and assistance. ECE would also like to express its appreciation to the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Environment Agency for their support by providing funds through the Advisory Assistance Programme, and to Norway and Switzerland for their financial contributions. Sincere thanks also go to France, the Netherlands and Portugal for having provided their experts, and to the United Nations Development Programme for its support of this review. ECE also takes the opportunity to thank Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland for their general financial support to the EPR Programme and expresses its deep appreciation to Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland for having provided their experts for the ECE Expert Group on Environmental Performance Reviews, which undertook the expert review of this report. 5 Executive summary The second Environmental Performance Review (EPR) of Bulgaria was carried out in 2000. This third review intends to assess the progress made by Bulgaria in managing its environment since the second EPR and in addressing new environmental challenges. Environmental conditions and pressures Annual emissions of sulphur dioxide dropped from 821 Gg in 2007 to 189 Gg in 2014 – a substantial 76.98 per cent decrease. Nitrogen oxide emissions diminished from 166 Gg in 2007 to 133 Gg in 2014. Emissions of total suspended particles decreased by 33.40 per cent, from 144.2 Gg in 2007 to 96.0 Gg in 2014. The volume of water abstraction has been in steady decline since 2007. The total volume of water abstracted in 2014 was 5,375 million m3, 13.32 per cent less than in 2007. Total water losses diminished by 28.67 per cent. Estimated wastewater generation in 2014 was 768.49 million m3 – 3.86 per cent less than in 2007. In 2014, the major proportion of wastewater (76.33 per cent) was treated before discharge. The number of functioning urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) rose from 68 in 2008 to 89 in 2014. However, the number of plants using secondary treatments increased from 52 to 56 and the number of plants capable of tertiary treatment rose from 1 to 24. In 2014, 74.9 per cent of the population was connected to a wastewater collection system but only 56.8 per cent of the population was connected to a plant. Bulgaria has extensive land areas in agricultural use and under forest. In 2012 around 52.6 per cent of land was either agricultural cropland (32 per cent) or pasture grassland (20.6 per cent), while 37.7 per cent was under forest and 6.1 per cent was shrubland. Built-up and artificial areas took up less than 2 per cent and water about 1 per cent of the land area. At the end of 2015 there were 1,012 protected areas, covering 584,530 ha. This was 6.90 per cent more than at the end of 2006. Although the number of protected areas is vast, the share of the total land area of the country designated as protected area was only 5.27 per cent in 2015 – one of the smallest shares among EU countries. The generation of municipal solid waste decreased by 23.48 per cent during the review period, from 4,172,000 tons in 2007 to 3,192,500 tons in 2014. While the number of municipal waste landfill sites has quickly reduced from 435 sites in 2007 to 147 in 2014, the share of the population served by municipal waste collection systems has increased from 92.51 per cent to 99.56 per cent. Legal and policymaking framework and its practical implementation Bulgaria has strengthened its legal framework for environmental protection and sustainable development. Nevertheless, since 2007, the European Commission has opened 54 infringement procedures against Bulgaria, for 3 of which the country was taken to the European Court of Justice for not sufficiently implementing and enforcing the environmental legislation. Up to the end of May 2016, 44 infringements had been closed. 6 Executive summary The 2005 Genetically Modified Organisms Act is in line with the EU legislation, and some parts of it even set stricter conditions. In 2010 Bulgaria adopted an official ban on GMO cultivation. Non- governmental organizations were one of the key drivers behind the current ban on GMOs in Bulgaria. Since 2007, Bulgaria has strengthened its policy framework for integration of environmental concerns with social and economic concerns. The country adopted the National Development Programme Bulgaria 2020 (NDP BG 2020), the National Reform Programme and the Government Programme for Stable Development for the period 2014–2018. Bulgaria has continuously strengthened its legal framework to promote its transition towards a green economy. The NDP BG 2020, the National Reform Programme and the Government Programme for Stable Development provide, to some degree, long-term strategic guidance for the transition towards a green economy in Bulgaria. Sectoral policy approaches to a green economy in Bulgaria are not sufficiently integrated due to the lack of coordination on development, implementation and monitoring of the policies and initiatives to promote a green economy. There are no specific coordinating mechanisms for green economy policies in place. The Ministry of Environment and Water is the main authority in charge of funding for green economy initiatives through the OP "Environment" and its two subordinated project financing institutions, the Enterprise for Management of Environmental Protection Activities and the National Trust Eco Fund. The Enterprise support for green initiatives in the period 2003–2015 amounted to more than 2,600 contracts worth over six million leva. The Fund has implemented four major programmes to promote green initiatives since 2007. SEA has been implemented since July 2004. The Environmental Protection Act establishes the general regulatory framework for SEA. The SEA Ordinance further specifies the SEA system. Bulgaria has established a single environmental ex-ante quality assurance system by integrating Natura 2000-appropriate assessment procedures, as well as coordinating Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permitting process and integrating the Seveso process of chemical safety in the EIA procedures. In 2008, the Liability for Prevention and Remedying of Environmental Damage Act was adopted. The law has transposed the 2004 Directive 2004/35/EO on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage. Bulgaria successfully implements the Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 on the voluntary participation by organizations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS). The number of valid ISO 14001 certificates was 6 in 2001 and reached 1,761 in 2014. Economic instruments for environmental protection and the financing of environmental expenditures Bulgaria has made progress in the use of economic mechanisms for pollution management, but the polluter-pays